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The Middle States
> A map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole province of Maryland with part of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.

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A map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole province of Maryland with part of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.

Drawn by Joshua Fry & Peter Jefferson in 1751, published by Thos. Jefferys, London, 1755. One of the most important American maps of the 18th Century.

Chart Information

Reference:

A312

Date

1751

Hydrographer/Surveyor/Artist:

Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson. Published by Robert Sayer & Thomas Jeffreys

Size Of Original:

w 53" x h 35"

Paper Type

German Hahnemuhle Etching Paper 310gms

Further Information

This print is
available framed at Half (A312x) size. Framed delivery to USA & Canada only.

Chart ID

Size

Dimensions

Print Only

Framed

Notes

A312

Original

w53" x h35"

$460

N/A

Print only

A312x

Half

w37" x h24"

$220

$475

3" frame

Frames
available in either black or brown wood with UV protective acrylic glazing. Please go to the drop down menu to
select your choice.

Read the full Chart History here:

By 1750 the British,
motivated by recent encroachment on the Virginia frontier by the French,
determined that more accurate surveys of their territories were needed.
George Montagu Dunk, Earl of Halifax and President of the Board of Trade, asked
the colonies for more information about activities on the frontiers.
Lewis Burwell, acting Governor of Virginia, responded by commissioning Joshua
Fry and Peter Jefferson to prepare a map of the colony.

Fry and Jefferson (father of future President
Thomas Jefferson) were experienced surveyors who had worked together in
determining the boundaries of Lord Fairfax's lands in 1746. They had also acted
as joint commissioners to extend the western portion of the Virginia–North
Carolina boundary line in 1749, and were surveyors for Albemarle County, a
recently created county in Virginia's Piedmont region. They set-about
their work in 1750 and in 1751 presented it to Acting Governor Burwell who
forwarded it on to London together with full a description of Virginia's boundaries
and back settlements, compiled by Fry, along with a brief account of the
travels of John Peter Salley, a German man living in Augusta County. It was
presented to the Commissioners of the Board of Trade and Plantations in London
in March 1752.

The Board of Trade paid Jefferson and Fry £150
each, and their work became the property of the English government. The map was
then passed on to Thomas Jefferys (snr), a prolific publisher and engraver and
geographer to the Prince of Wales who engraved the map on four copperplates in
Summer 1753. The first edition of the Fry and Jefferson map was entitled
'A map of the inhabited part of....'. It was not until the second edition
was released by by Jeffreys 1754 that the title was changed to 'A map of the most inhabited parts of...'
This state of the map contains major revisions, the most significant being the
corrected course of the Ohio River, based on the additional information
provided by surveyor and explorer Christopher Gist (see top left corner of
map). The edition presented here is likely a fourth state of the
map. On the 6th edition of the map Jefferys changed the date in the main
cartouche from 1751 to 1775. Robert Sayer is credited at the bottom of
the sheet, probably as the printer.

The map Fry and Jefferson had produced relied on a
combination of previous surveys completed by the two men along with a great
deal of new surveys complete especially for this map. It is the first map
to accurately depict the Blue Ridge Mountains and the first to lay down the colonial
road system of Virginia. This included McCulloch's Path which was an
early colonial route through Western Maryland and which owed its origin to
American Bison. It affords an interesting illustration of the fact that
the pioneers of the West were greatly indebted to the buffalo for their first
passageways. The map also includes 'The Great Road from the Yadkin River
through Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles', later to be known as 'The
Great Philadelphia Wagon Road'. Also marked on the map is the “Trading
Path leading to the Catawba & Cherokee Indian Nations.” The map is
further distinguished for its accurate depiction of the Allegheny Mountains.

As with so many great works of art, literature or
cartography this map reveals more and more with every viewing. The
beautiful cartouche down in the bottom right corner of the map was designed by
artist and engraver Francis Hayman who was a popular historical painter and a
founding member of the Royal Academy in London. Charles Grignion was commissioned
to design and execute the cartouche. which depicts a wharf scene in which a
tobacco planter negotiates with a ship’s captain, whist slaves attend and work
on the dock-side of what is clearly a busy and prosperous harbour. An
inventory is being checked indicating order and control. All appears
harmonious and happy right down to the contented slave workers.
Virginia's economic dependence on tobacco, and slavery, is clearly visible.

The major rivers in the Chesapeake area, along with
their tentacle-like tributaries which reached far into the heartland of the
State meant that goods could be transported to the major ports and harbours
quickly and inexpensively, rather than by overland routes. This
water-based transport system also allowed the larger plantation owners to
negotiate with the ships’ captains from their plantation docks. The labouring
slaves represent the manpower required to cultivate and harvest the intensive cash
crop of Virginia.